Chapter 21: Mastering new things
Soon after the instructor initiated the simulation, the surroundings wrapped like chaotic mixture of colors. Churning, the environment slowly drew into existence.
Thick brown trees stretched out from the ground, attempting to blind the sun from its spot. Next, Ciel's feet sinked down about a few inches- he was now standing on mulky ground.
Everything Ciel could see started getting blocked by trees rising from every side. At an impeccable speed, everything was canopied by the great trees.
Extending his hand forward, Ciel touched a tree, the sensation of hard trunk spread through his fingers. Running his hand along the tree trunk, it felt so real, that Ciel for a moment questioned whether or not he was just transported to another part of the world.
"Amazing."
As he was occupied with feeling the hard trunk, a notification popped up on a holographic screen.
[Reader Sinbad shadow -Team cores: 3]
Looking at the screen, Ciel quickly swiped left to discard it, before then falling into deep thought.
'Somebody already killed a monster? I wouldn't be surprised if it was Louis. Also, it seems everyone was separated from each other.
Does that mean we have to hunt on our own? If that's the case, isn't this game more of a personal survival exercise than a group activity. Even though they weren't my team.
In any case, should I? No. Fighting the boss monster just to get more points seems stupid. But is it?
What if the monster is genuinely more powerful than I am? There's a possibility that it's a Magister rank. No. Even if it isn't, it might possess very tricky abilities even in the apprentice rank.
Then what should I do? Scout? Yes. I should do that…. I should first scout the terrain, find suitable monsters I can easily deal with. Oh? And on a side note, perhaps I should place a restriction on myself. Chances are, that within this place, I can't suffer the weakness of my curse. In that case, I would naturally possess the true strength of an apprentice.
With that analogy, shouldn't I train my physical skills? Instead of simply relying on Illusion and flames black. And equally, there's also the possibility that I'm being watched. In that case, wouldn't it be a double effect?
I train, while at the same time tricking some extra people.'
At that moment, a slick black katana appeared in front of him. Imbedded into the mulky ground.
'This? So they give everyone a weapon. But why a katana? Couldn't they have found a Mac 11 or something?. Sigh, so I have to do a short ranged battle.' Ciel took a couple of breaths and picked up the blade.
"Shua! Shua!"
Swinging it a couple more times, the blade made a whistling sound as it cut through the wind. adjusting to the weight of the sword, Ciel nodded in satisfaction.
It wasn't what he wanted, but he had to do for now.
Sheathing the katana back into the scabbard that appeared alongside it. Ciel looked around, wary of his surroundings.
Ciel wasn't only looking out for possible monsters. No. He was equally looking out for humans.
The instructor didn't expressly state whether killing was allowed or not, as such it would only be natural for them to assume it was. And considering his ruffle with Louis, it would only make sense if the reader was out for his head.
Obviously, dying in the simulation, apart from a light headache, wouldn't cause any problems in the physical body.
"Since I'm surrounded by trees… maybe climbing would be a better way to scout? Or should I just walk around looking for the nearest monster."
"Considering we're not the only one in this simulation, it's also possible other groups spawned on different parts of the terrin. So in that case, moving in trees, although will be good in sighting monsters, doing so will quickly alert a reader than walking around silently." Considering for an extra minute, Ciel decided to go with the latter.
Nodding in affirmation, Ciel decided to move through the forest on his feet.
…..
[Teammate James Fray has died]
A few minutes into the forest, Ciel saw the sudden notification pop up in from of him, which as a result prompted an almost instinctive shake of the head.
'Couldn't even last a few minutes. And here you were mocking me of my rank. Or well in hindsight, it was probably my reputation.' Ciel reflected before dismissing the interface with a wave of his hand.
'What could have killed them? A monster? Or perhaps another reader? Again it's also possible that someone betrayed the group. Though it wouldn't serve them any gain.'
[Teammate Eleanor Tiva has died.]
'Well I guess that eliminates attack from fellow readers. It's most likely a monster. But for it to be able to kill two apprentice ranks within a few minutes, it stands that it's also an apprentice, perhaps one with a troublesome ability.'
"Rustle Rustle!"
Suddenly, Ciel heard the sound of bushes near him. It was then that a large shadow extended from the bushes, approaching Ciel at a terrifying speed.
Touching the handle of the blade, Ciel quickly realized he had no idea how to wield a sword.
He quickly dunked to the side- the shadow tore through the wind piercing a tree that was directly behind Ciel.
Quickly jumping up, Ciel created a distance between him and the shadow.
The tree had a round hole in its center - black sticky liquid dripping from the gaping hole. The liquid cascaded down the down half of the tree, covering it in a black canva.
Then, like an abrupt shot, the liquid rose, covering the rest of the tree- quickly transforming it into a black hue, a contrast to its previous black and green.
At that moment, the interface appeared before Ciel:
[Spotted a Black Mercurial Slime.. Worth 2 cores.]
'Slime?' Ciel stood perplexed.
Want he knew slimes as, where small bubbling creatures which typically fed on grass or rocks. At least the novel he read always had the same description for slimes. But he guessed it would be different, considering this was a scene the academy recreated to serve as its training.
The tree of sticky black liquid, began bubbling, it's surface rippling like the surface of a river. Then, the 'Tree' crashed down! Dissolving into a puddle of black goo.
Not granting Ciel a moment to think, the puddle shit out numerous black tendrils at him!
Normally, that would instantly kill a student rank reader, however, Ciel unbothered by the mind numbing weakness, was free to exercise the true might of an apprentice.
He swiftly dodged to the left, avoiding the tendrils that shot into the muddy ground. He unsheathed his blade, slashing at a few black tendrils that shot towards him.
His blade cut into the liquid goo, the friction within his strike, quickly weakening due to the thickness of the tendril. His blade now covered in the black sticky liquid.
Staring at his blade, Ciel waited a moment too late. Next, his body was instantly pierced by the black goo. However, in that same moment, Ciel's body vibrated before shattering into a number of ethereal glass shards.
He appeared at the other side of the liquid puddle!
It was an illusion!
Gripping his sword, he stabbed into the black puddle. But as he expected, it felt akin to stabbing a rather soft loaf of bread.
Nothing had happened.
The slime agitated by the nuisance, shot out a few black tendrils at Ciel, who expertly avoided it, by creating a distance with a single jump.
He stared at the puddle slime, a grin curled up on his face.
"Is that all you can do?" He said- provoking the monster.
The surface of the puddle surged with numerous ripples, all except the center. If it was an ocean, it would be akin to the coming of a storm.
It immediately shot out countless black springs. This time, far surpassing the previous ones.
Ciel at this point, leaped into the air, his body quickly shattering into numerous countless shards.
He used an llusion again!
This time, he sneaked up to the confused monster, gripping his sword- He stabbed the puddle in the center, where the ripples didn't occur.
The black tendrils that hung in the air splashed to the ground, and in that same moment, Ciel heard an announcement from the interface.
[Killed a Black Mercurial Slime. Awarded 2 cores]
Ciel smiled at the hologram.
With a deep relaxing breath, Ciel wiped his blade on the bushes that laid around. After which, he sheathed the sword into its scabbard.
He learnt a few things from this battle: one, he sucked at using the sword. This was evident throughout the battle; each time he planned on executing some awesome slashes, he would only end up evading at the last second. Nonetheless, it helped him in solidifying his understanding of his fighting style.
He excelled at misdirection and trickery- and in the end, it was the trait given by his unique name.
Secondly, the ability to control illusions was more useful than he had imagined. Hence was the case during the confrontation.
Theoretically at first, he wondered whether he could create an illusory scene around his body. One that draws from the surroundings itself. In essence, he attempted to create an illusion of a space, something like bushes or trees he stood behind.
With that method, he could cloak himself in that illusion, constantly moving while remaining undetected. However, it wasn't as easy as it sounds -as Ciel had to expend a great level of focus. This was because he had to effectively smoothly change the illusion each time he moved.
And coupled with the illusion of himself he created to distract the monster, Ciel currently was very low on energy.
Nonetheless, the knowledge acquired was useful.
Taking a few extra breaths, Ciel walked off from the stage of the battle. Staying any longer might end up attracting more monsters. And with his current state, Ciel couldn't have that.
Ciel followed the direction lined with sloppy sticky black goo- supposedly made from the mercurial slime. The monster must have passed through here before attacking Ciel.
In any case, Ciel hoped for something fortuitous at the end of the line.
The goo lined on mudded ponds. Bushes, and even trees which all had sticky goo lines on them.
After a few minutes, Ciel made a stop at a tall bush- the line of goo making its end at this spot.
'So what's inside?' Ciel wondered.
Stretching out his hand, he pushed aside the push, taking a few steps inside.
...
'Beautiful.' Ciel could only exclaim at the sight before him..
Crystalline clear water that clearly reflected the light of the orange sun, vibrant green vegetation that formed a circle around the water. Animals roamed around the lake, fishes of myriad colors all swept joyfully.
It was a perfect picture of a beautiful and calm world.
"Who are you?"
Snapping Ciel from his reverie was a deep male voice resounding from the right.
Turning to the direction of the sound, Ciel spotted a boy who seemingly appeared to be 17 years of age. His coily black hair rested like a bush atop his head. Furthermore, accompanying his visage were clear brown eyes which seemingly bore the same color as the trunk of a tree.
He looked lively, his temperament like the wild forest - which strangely aligned with the vibe of the surroundings. He was standing behind a wall of green bush, which ran round the place.
Acknowledging Ciel's presence, he took a few steps forward.
"Who are you?"
"Shouldn't you give yours first?" Ciel shot out with a frank expression.
Taken back by the sudden openness, the boy extended his hand and said:
"Student rank, Peter quill"
Following that, a screen appeared before Ciel. Its content was more of a confirmation to the mentioned identity.
Extending his hand, Ciel smiled and presented himself.
"Good to meet you, student rank - Sinbad shadow."
"Oh?" Peter visibly twitched. "You're sinbad…" His face showcased a reserved smile.
'Couldn't have made it any more obvious.' Ciel had a self deprecating thought.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone